The world at a glance . . . United States

Springfield, Ill.

Burris beleaguered: Illinois legislators from both parties called for a perjury investigation of Sen. Roland Burris after he offered contradictory accounts of his interactions with ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Burris, a Democrat, testified during Blagojevich’s impeachment hearing that he’d had no contact with the governor’s office while Blagojevich was considering whom to appoint to President Obama’s vacated Senate seat. But Burris changed his story this week, admitting that he’d spoken with the governor’s brother about the Senate seat and about raising campaign funds for Blagojevich. Some of those conversations may have been monitored by investigators. Burris denied any wrongdoing, but Illinois Republican legislators called on him to resign, and Democrats did not step forward to defend him.

Houston

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When satellites collide: A private U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite 490 miles above Earth’s surface last week, scattering two large clouds of debris that threatened to intersect with the orbit of the International Space Station. “This is the first time we’ve ever had two intact spacecraft accidentally run into each other,” said Nicholas Johnson of NASA. The American spacecraft, operated by Iridium Satellite, a provider of mobile voice and data communications, slammed into a nonoperative Russian Cosmos satellite above Siberia. NASA tracks about 18,000 pieces of “space junk”—defunct spacecraft, rocket stages, and other equipment—orbiting above Earth and maneuvers its spacecraft to prevent collisions. There have been only three recorded collisions of space junk in the past 20 years.

Clarence, N.Y.

Icy crash: A Continental commuter plane that crashed in a Buffalo suburb last week was on autopilot until 26 seconds before impact, investigators said this week. The fiery crash killed all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. Investigators offered no theory for why Capt. Marvin Renslow, the pilot of the Newark-to-Buffalo flight, remained on autopilot for so long despite reporting icing on the wings. Airline regulations require pilots to fly by manual control in icy conditions. Investigators say the aircraft plunged 800 feet in five seconds, before landing on a house in Clarence, five miles from the Buffalo airport.

Washington, D.C.

Bush-Cheney friction: Dick Cheney repeatedly lobbied President Bush to pardon his former chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby until the last day of the Bush administration, the New York Daily News reported this week. The vice president was reportedly “furious” that Bush wouldn’t pardon Libby, who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for his role in outing CIA agent Valerie Plame. Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence in 2007, but did not lift other penalties, including a $250,000 fine and loss of his law license. Some aides said there was now a serious rift between Bush and Cheney, who publicly said last week that he “disagreed’’ with his former boss’s decision not to pardon Libby.

Stamford, Conn.

Gory chimp attack: A 200-pound pet chimpanzee went wild this week, severely mauling a 55-year-old woman and attacking a police car before he was shot and killed. The 14-year-old primate, named Travis, had lived like a family member in the home of Sandra Herold, watching TV, drinking from glasses, and dining at the family table. When Travis became agitated this week, Herold summoned a neighbor, Charla Nash, but the chimp attacked her in the driveway. Herold called 911, begging police to “shoot him,’’ and when the rampaging chimp attacked a patrol car, the cop inside did. Nash survived but had lost much of her face. Wildlife experts said that though chimps can act like humans, they remain very powerful wild animals and can “blow’’ at any time.

Orchard Park, N.Y.

Wife beheaded: The founder of a television network devoted to improving the image of Muslims was charged this week with beheading his wife. Police say Muzzammil Hassan, 44, confessed to the crime. The decapitated body of Aasiya Hassan, 37, was discovered at the station, where she worked as a programmer. Police said they had visited the Hassan residence several times in response to domestic-violence complaints, and that Hassan was angry that his wife wanted to divorce him. Muslim clerics who knew the couple denied it was a so-called honor killing, in which women are murdered for offenses such as adultery. Hassan founded the Bridges TV network to counter negative stereotypes about Muslims following the 9/11 attacks. It is available on several cable systems throughout the U.S.